


Tall, dark, and handsome

by toots (TooMany0TPs)



Series: Random, cute fluff moments...... [6]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family Fluff, adoptive daughter costia, drag king Lexa, lexa's suave as nips, mum!clarke, she has the greatest suits, this is an adoption fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 03:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13022691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooMany0TPs/pseuds/toots
Summary: Clarke's feeling the loneliness what with Octavia being married, and Raven engaged. She finally finds someone and that someone (two years later) adopts her daughter.





	Tall, dark, and handsome

Clarke isn’t asking for much in life; alright job – check – roof over her head – check (even if she does have to live with Raven, one of two extremely boisterous best friends) – food in her belly – check (Chinese every other night).

That’s about it really.

 But, Clarke being Clarke wants more, she wants a partner, someone in life to go home to, someone in life to rub her back and feet and face and hair and just generally dote on her every second of her life.

 Clarke is 29, Raven is engaged, her other bestie’s married and living down south (she gets to see both of them over Crimbo and school time summer holidays.)

 Her mum’s found another man after her father died from a tumour in the brain. He’s alright if a little soft-spoken. She has an adopted cat called Pringles and an adopted 17-year-old daughter. Who she officially adopted 1 year, 6 months and two days ago.

 Raven and her fiancée are thick as thieves with her daughter, Raven even taught her how to punch someone in the solar plexus in case of an ‘emergency’.

 But Clarke still doesn’t think this is enough. She needs someone who can make her food when she’s had a long day driving her ambulance with her partner Niylah. She did have the occasional night spent at hers, but a girl has needs and right now she needs someone permanent.

 She may have just found that someone too, someone who’s tall, dark and handsome. That someone, has enough suave to knock half of a Beyoncé concert over, someone who’s teeth could outshine the sun even if it’s the middle of a summer’s day, and the grass is luscious and well looked after, and any rain is light and freezing cold in contrast to the sweltering heat and little wind.

 “Hello beautiful, I’m Alex. To whom am I buying a drink for?” Tall dark and handsome, with eyes far too green, leans against the bar.

 She ignores her daughter, at the disgusted sounds and fake retching, far too entranced with this mythical creature.

 “C-Clarke.” She can barely take her eyes away from tall, dark, handsome, and nice smelling’s own very, _very_ green eyes. “A pint of Guinness would do nicely.” She ignores her daughter as she huffs and marches off, probably to find her two Aunties who are probably grinding inappropriately for their age in the middle of the dancing crowd.

 “Well _Klark_. It would be my pleasure.” She taps the bar once; the bar tender having finally arrived as tall, dark, and handsome dips and presses a kiss to Clarke’s knuckles. Good GOD those lips are soft.

 Tall, dark, handsome, and soft lips smiles a charming grin. A twinkle to those ever so green eyes, teeth that could be used to flag down aircraft if they were to be stranded in the middle of no-where and the only way of communicating was through light.

 She blushes and looks down at where their hands are still together, resting on the free bar-stool as tall, dark, handsome, and lithe just leans more comfortably against the polished wood, mindful of the overflow trays wet from the night’s many drinks. “Oh no. The pleasure would be mine _Aleks_.”

 Tall, dark, and handsome, with short tight curls, just grins, lithe body all thin and lightly muscled through the grey slacks, grey velvety brogues, white shirt and gold waistcoat. The top hat grey as well, outlined by a matching gold band of ribbon. “Please, what is a lady like you doing by herself?”

 “…I _was_ with my daughter and her Aunts. She gets a little … embarrassed at her mum flirting.” She flashes a dazzling smile of her own, hoping to at least make this person waver a little. She swooned at the first flash in green eyes and flare of nostrils as her perfume was scented.

 “Your daughter? I thought she was your sister.”

 “Oh, come off it, she’s twelve years younger … and black. How on earth could she possibly be my sister!?” She slaps at tall, dark, handsome’s, beautifully crafted forearm, bare from rolled up sleeves, making the suave appearance even more delicious. “Now, pass me my beer.” She holds her hand out expectantly.

 She could easily reach over and grab the foaming glass, but she wanted to make this stranger work for it.

 Tall, dark, handsome, and wonderfully graceful, swipes the glass up and leans over until they’re face to face, their breaths pushing together over the rim of the pint glass. “Please-“ The face in-front of her’s leans back, taking the glass with it, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow poised in question.

 Clarke frowns, a pout on her lips, she looks first across the crowd, then along the bar, the bartender and the roof over-head. Then down to her jean-clad legs and the bottom of her black turtle-neck; not the most flattering of get-ups, especially when paired with her Union jack imprinted Doc Martins. She looks up and bites her lip, a smirk tugging at the opposite side. “Pwetty pwetty pwease?”

 They watch each other, tall, dark, and handsome glancing to the beer in hand and then up at her. “Alright, one more thing before you receive the black and beige. Your number.” Clarke chokes on thin air as she blushes.

 Then, before she can think better of herself she nods.

 By the end of the night tall, dark, and handsome has left having paid for three pints of Guinness for herself, a phone number and a peck to the cheek.

***

 “Erh merh gerhd. Mamma’s got a HOT _Date_.” Clarke sighs and shakes her head as she watches her daughter and Raven dance around her. But she also can’t help her grin at the mention of ‘tall, dark, and handsome’. “Tonight’s finally arrived mum, and _my_ , you do scrub up well.” She bats away her daughter’s hands as they fiddle with the neck to her dress, already past the point of the motherly dip.

“Stop, inappropriate, now behave yourself, you too Costia.” She pauses at Raven’s indignant squawk and carries on, “now, if I’m not back in time don’t forget to make yourself some tea, there’s pasta in the cupboard and sauce in the pull-out cupboard, or there’s cheese on toast and soup, or there’s some frozen cottage pie, or the-“

 “Mum! Yes, we get it, don’t have a take-away, gotcha. Now, go before you make yourself late for your HOT DATE.” She squeals and Clarke rolls her eyes, puffing out air when Raven aids her daughter in pushing her through the door.

 Finally, she’s pushed out the door to the three bedroomed semi-detached cottage and the door slammed in her face when she turns to make sure that Raven doesn’t get up to no good.

 She sighs, throws her head back, then turns and scrambles into her black Volkswagen polo and grips the steering wheel. – she can do this, literally down the road, round a corner, then another, down a few more roads and she’s there, with a roundabout dotted in there somewhere but her brain’s too muddled to remember quite where.

 “Right … to the Grounder’s cave.” She points up at the end of her Robin impression then shakes her head at her own dorkiness and starts the engine.

***

 Clarke isn’t asking for much, just wishing tall, dark, and handsome would finally walk through the pub’s double doors and spot her lounging against the bar, heel hooked into the stool rung and starting up occasional chatter with the two barkeeps on the quiet Thursday night.

 She’s onto her fifth beer – she thinks, forth beer and a glass of Baileys is more accurate – when the more butch of the two barkeeps stops talking and looks towards the doors, she flashes a smile to Clarke before turning away and cleaning a glass.

 She frowns and turns to the doors and in comes tall, dark, and … beautiful? Well, she never expected that.

 She gets up, walks to the newcomer and stops, craning to look up into familiar green eyes. “…Are you Alex’s twin? He didn’t mention having a twin.”

 Tall, dark, and beautiful smiles, the same pearly white grin Alex from Saturday kept flashing her. “I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself. But I’ll give you a hint. Alex…is fictional.” Tall, dark, and beautiful holds a deceptively dainty hand to soft lips with wide eyes.

 Clarke looks from green eye to green eye, before letting her eyes eat up the rest of her, tonight dressed similarly in half a maroon suit, black shirt and gold tie instead of waistcoat, is so similar to tall, dark, and handsome she almost believes they’re the same person…but they can’t be, not possible.

 “I know how confused by this you are Klark, but I can explain myself over a glass of whiskey if you’d like?” Clarke pulls a face at the mention of such a strong liquor. “…Or maybe a glass of Dissarano and coke?” She grins in reply and nods leading the way back to where she was perched at the bar.

 “Hey Alice, D and C and a whiskey please.” She taps the wood lightly beneath her fingertips watching as the dreadlocked barkeep starts on their drinks.

 “Okay, care to share then? Starting with your twin.”

 “I have no twin, Alex is a part of me.” Clarke frowns and looks at hickory curls, plaited and braided and knotted into the most wonderful spray of practical beautifulness – to put it simply. “I’m not sure if you knew, but the night you went was drag king night, you got there just after the show had finished and I was doing my rounds. It’s actually one of my jobs.” Clarke looks away from tall, dark, and beautiful to pick up her lovely dark glass of liquid and taking a few sips loving the fact that it tastes like an alcoholic Dr Pepper.

 “So you’re actually a woman?”

 “Yes.”

 “Well…that makes things a little different, but good different.” She looks over to tall, dark, and beautiful. “What’s your name? Your actual name?”

 “Lexa. Alexandria, but my full name reminds me of when I was told off.”  

 Clarke falls quiet, savouring the most perfect name for this most perfect creature. She takes a few more sips of her drink then looks at the glass of orange the other holds, swirling it over ice to keep it evenly cool.

 “Well, it’s lovely to actually meet you Lexa, and it was also lovely to meet Alex. Now, I must ask, where the hell did you keep that hair?!”

 The woman laughs heartily making Clarke’s heart thump once and powerfully making her feel like she’d just fallen off a cliff. “Make-up has progressed astronomically in these past years Klark, wigs, bald patches and some good hats can easily hide even excessive amounts of hair. Like mine.”

 “Is being a drag king your only job? Or is there like…another side-job or something?”

 “I’m a high school teacher. English to be accurate. Alex comes through in the books I read and the classes I teach. My students often see Alex to help boost their confidence and to give pep-talks. Even as a school mascot for some of my students who play American football after-school.” Clarke nods and leans forward, purposely placing her hand mid-thigh on a maroon slacks clad leg. And my what a leg it is. “If you don’t mind me intruding, what do you do?”

 “I work in medicine, well, I lie a little there, I’m an ambulance driver. Unfortunately, I don’t have any side-quests so I have to rely on my housemate and daughter to keep things interesting, and goodness do they. P.s. if anything’s going to work between us, my daughter has to like you.” She glares up at the tall woman who merely smiles charmingly as she takes a sip of her whiskey.

 “Of what I saw of her the last time we met, she seemed like quite the ball of fire.”

 “Oh, if you think she’s bad you need to meet her Aunties.” Lexa chuckles.

 “Mmmh, I don’t need to meet her aunties if I’ve already met you, there’s quite a bit of fire in you too Klark.” She runs her hand up Clarke’s neck, under her jaw and into her hairline making sure to lean forward enough to barely brush noses. “Quite a lot indeed.”

 Clarke can’t help herself as she leans the rest of the way and feels those soft lips again, only this time she can properly savour them.

 However, they’re interrupted by the other barkeep who clears her throat and slaps a rag down on the bar’s surface to accentuate her point and gestures to the other ends of the bar with her eyes. Clarke blushes as Lexa grins unapologetically at the woman; Clarke takes the chance to glance to the areas indicated and finds five other male patrons leering in their direction.

 “Thank you, Cathrine, give Alice my love, will you?” She gives the most beautiful smirk to the barkeep who only rolls her eyes and rips up their tab.

 Lexa slides off her chair with all the grace of a deer up a mountain, and offers her hand to Clarke, who neither hesitates, nor blinks as she takes the offered limb.

 ***

 “Costia! You’re going to be late! Again, might I add.” Some thudding followed by hurried footsteps sounds through the cottage and not a moment later one 19 year old is stood panting one hand pushing the curl comb through her hair as the other swings her rucksack onto her back. “Finally, your mum’s been pulling her hair out waiting for you, now go before you make yourself any later.”

 Lexa follows the pair to the door, the smallest of the trio leading the way, Lexa stops her at the door ensuring Costia carries on and gets into the car. “Be careful, and remember to eat something this time. Have a good day beautiful.” She leans down and kisses Clarke, making sure her wife leaves with a roaring blush. “I’ll see you later.” She gives one last kiss.

 “Bye Lexie, behave yourself, just cuz you’re taking Raven today doesn’t mean you can get up to no good too.” One raised blonde eyebrow and another series of pecks later and Clarke finally gets into her car grinning over at the disgruntled teen. “Hey you. Looking forward to seeing Lexa work?”

 “I see her work all the time, it was you who suggested transferring schools.”

 “Ah, less of the cheek, I only asked her to do that to keep an eye on you, you’ve had to be set back a year, so I wanted you to have the absolute best out of your final educational years.” Costia glances up at her mum and whimpers.

 “Mum, you know you crying makes me cry.” Clarke wafts a hand in-front of her face and nods.

 “I know, I know…okay….” She takes a deep breath in and then lets it out as she starts engine and looks in her mirrors. “Right, are we ready?”

 Costia nods determinedly her eyes still watery as she sniffles.

***

 “Right you ‘orrible lot, we have a special treat for you today.” The headmaster walks passed his little podium and leaves his pen there, eyeing each of the sixth form students. “Some of you may know him, some of you may have heard of him, some of you may know him on a more personal level.”

 Costia ignores the fact that his eyes linger on her for a little longer than the rest of them.

 “Never before seen by student eyes, he is performing for us today to mark a very special occasion for one of our beloved students, your classmate. I won’t announce her name yet, because that may spoil everything. So just enjoy.”

 He walks off to the side like any other awkward middle-aged headmaster would and the lights go off, the hall’s long purple curtains drawn over the many windows to completely block out light until a single green spotlight flashes on and points to the centre of the raised school stage.

 The clicking of heels and the slight scraping of a chair and there appears Alex, in a deep green fedora, matching slacks and brogues and lime green suspenders over a crisp white shirt, his top button undone. Along with the chair in one hand, he holds a guitar, old and worn but meaning the world to Costia.

 “I may be a little clumsy with this, I only really learnt to play it a few weeks ago. But oh well.” He flashes his trademark smile out at his young audience and then sets and settles.

 He starts to strum and in his very professional voice starts to recite a poem.

“I’m glad there’s you to smile at me and brighten my day,

To share my thoughts and understand the things I do and say.

I’m glad there’s you to laugh at and with me (mostly at me), at ordinary things,

To show me what is special in everything life brings.

Someone sent you to me,

As a special gift from those above.

To teach me life’s lessons

And to help shower you with love.

If I could give you just one thing in life,

I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes. Only then

Would you see how very special you are to me.”

 He finishes strumming the guitar and lays it gently on the stage and stands up and takes his hat off. He gestures to someone off to the side of the stage before walking carefully down the steps, all the while looking straight at Costia.

 “Miss green if you could please come here?” He presses his fingers under his wig and picks away at the glue keeping it in place. Costia hurriedly stands and makes her way over to the man, a smile half hidden by the still dim light.

 She doesn’t notice as her mum approaches her from behind.

 “We couldn’t decide of a better time for this and we know how much you love school.” He sends a cheeky wink her way and finally pulls the wig off, letting long Hickory hair fall over slim shoulders and straight back.

 Someone moves to stand to the side and Costia only just notices her it’s her mum as she swaps something with Lexa. She gets down on one knee and unravels a piece of paper.

 “Miss Costia Green, will you do the honour of becoming my daughter?” Costia stands staring for a second before bursting into tears and collapsing into Lexa’s arms, her mum trying her damndest to control her own.

 “Yes, I want to be a Griffin-Woods, not just Griffin.” She sniffles into long hair, that take her back to the nights she nearly couldn’t carry on with life, to the nights where the three of them and Raven (and occasionally her fiancée) watch Disney films taking the mic out of the characters for being so predictable. To the mornings she spent slamming doors in her hurry to get ready for school. She leans in close and whispers. “Does this also mean I can call you mum too?”

 Lexa laughs and stands spinning her daughter round, just tall enough to be able to do it.

 “Clarke, officially meet our daughter, Costia Griffin-Woods.” The blonde laughs and hugs them both, the hall lights having finally been switched back on. “Now, I do believe we can have the rest of the day off, thank you for allowing me the morning Headmaster.”

 The headmaster merely shakes his head with that fatherly smile and clasps his hands together, then shakes Lexa’s. “Congratulations.”

 The students start clapping again as the trio walk out, readying themselves for a day of Ice cream, hot chocolate and rainy weather, all while piled under enough blankets to give to all of Africa, and playing board games.


End file.
